10 BIG, BIG TROUBLE

10. BIG, BIG TROUBLE She had turned completely white… which didn't look hopeful… but after a few minutes the gold slowly began to return to her body again, her lashes trembled, and she finally opened her eyes. 'She's a-a-alive!' yelled Toothless happily, and he did a somersault in the air. 'Oh, thank Thor,' sighed Camicazi. 'How are you feeling?' 'I'm feeling like a dragon who has been hit on the head,' said Stormfly, rubbing the large lump that had appeared between her horns. 'Who are you?' 'What do you mean, who am I?' said Camicazi in surprise. 'I'm Camicazi of course… your Master.' 'And who is the boy who looks like a fish? And what about this skinny red one all covered in freckles? And, most importantly WHO AM I and why…' asked Stormfly, with mounting horror, '…why am I speaking the language of the lumpentongue?' 'You're the Stormfly. You've always spoken Norse,' stammered Camicazi. 'Stop joking around, Stormfly, we're in trouble here…' 'I'm not joking,' said Stormfly. And to Hiccup's concern, not even a hint of

violet came over her as she said it. 'What am I doing in this horrible cold dungeon?' asked Stormfly. 'It's a long story,' said Hiccup, hurriedly. 'But the important thing is, can you remember the way OUT of here?' 'Well,' said the Stormfly, rubbing her head again. 'I can't remember how I got IN, so how am I supposed to remember how to get OUT?' There was a nasty silence, as the three young Vikings suddenly realised exactly how much trouble they were in. Big, big, BIG trouble.

The Library seemed to have got even darker since the Hairy Scary Librarian had shrieked out of the room. One by one, the Glow-worms were dimming their glows. The loud cries of the Hairy Scary Librarian's hysterical cracked laugh could be heard echoing and twisting down the corridors. It was as if the Library was laughing at them. smirked the Library. And another echo was reverberating uncomfortably in Hiccup's brain. It was the echo of the words: 'I'd advise you to be quiet… or the Driller-Dragons will find you… and take it from me, you don't want the Driller-Dragons to find you… It's an untidy way to die…' Hiccup swallowed hard. The Library stopped laughing, and now the silence was so loud and so thick you could almost touch it. Hiccup's anxious, stretching ears strained to hear through the blanket of blackness.

Could that muted snuffle be the noise of dragons hunting? Could that gentle patter be the drum of running feet? And way back in the background, that soft and grim pulsation, could that whirring whining be the hum of distant drills? 'OK,' whispered Hiccup, his heart now beating in an erratic tattoo, but trying to keep his voice calm. Nobody else seemed to be hearing the noises he was hearing, and he didn't want to worry the others. 'We'll just set off then, shall we, and see if it jogs the Stormfly's memory. Which way first, then, Stormfly?' 'Are you talking to me?' asked the Stormfly, pointing her wing to her chest.

'Yes,' whispered Hiccup. 'You're the Stormfly, that's your name.' 'Nice name, I like it, it's got style,' said the Stormfly, very pleased with herself. 'But I haven't got the foggiest which way to go. Right?' 'So… should we go right, then?' said Fishlegs. 'Or left? Do you think the knock on the head has made her more truthful?' 'She still looks gold,' said Hiccup trying to see in the gloom. 'I think we'll go right.' 'This just couldn't be better,' said Fishlegs. 'Now our trusty Guide is not only a pathological liar, but has also lost her memory… Marvellous. Superb. EXCELLENT.' 'Well, it's all your fault,' snapped Camicazi. 'You shouldn't have broken up the fight. We were SLAUGHTERING that guy! We had him just where we wanted him!' 'Exactly where you wanted him?' snorted Fishlegs. 'Exactly where you wanted him? So you WANTED him with his sword running right through you like a Bog-Burglar kebab, did you? Silly me, and there was I thinking I've just saved your life and maybe you could thank me, just a little… but, oh, no, you WANTED him to be killing you, didn't you…'

'Will you keep your voices down?' hissed Hiccup in a panic, starting to follow Stormfly who had begun to flap off to the right. The bonk on her head had affected her flying, and she zigzagged and swayed eccentrically through the air, bumping into things. 'Sorry, sir,' apologised Stormfly, to yet another bookshelf. 'This way, guys, I think my memory could be returning…' They were all rather encouraged by Stormfly's confidence, despite the fact that she kept on bumping into things. But after about half an hour of running round the Library without seeming to get anywhere at all, that confidence wore off. 'You haven't a clue where we are, have you, Stormfly?' panted Fishlegs. 'Weeell,' said Stormfly, 'it seems to be a big creepy place with loads and loads of BOOKS in it… I give up… is it a school? THIS WAY, GUYS!' And she doubled up on herself enthusiastically. 'Oh for Thor's sake,' moaned Fishlegs, staggering after the others as they set off again. Ten minutes later, puffing asthmatically, he called everybody to a halt. 'I've got to rest for a bit…' wheezed poor Fishlegs, 'and we're not really getting anywhere are we?'